Slip resistant garment

ABSTRACT

An athletic garment suitable for use as cheerleading training pants or shorts has a plurality of silicone slip resistant protrusions arranged at a left and right hip section. The silicone protrusions prevent slipping between the garment and a catching athlete&#39;s hands. Additional silicone protrusions may be arranged at a left and right ankle section of the garment.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to slip resistant garment, and more particularly, to shorts and pants with integrated slip resistant protrusions for use in cheerleading practice.

BACKGROUND

In cheerleading, stunting is typically a dominant part of the sport in which participants lift each other up. The person lifted into the air during a stunt is referred to as the flyer. Athletes that hold the flyer in the air during the stunt are referred to as bases. During the performance of a stunt, the flyer is frequently held by the base athlete at her ankles, e.g. when forming a human pyramid. The base athlete may catch the flyer at her hips, e.g. during dismounting of a human pyramid.

It is essential, for the base athlete to have a firm grip on the flyer to avoid injury during the performance of stunts. The slick surface of common sport apparel combined with inevitable sweat forming on a base athlete's hands during practice and performance can negatively impact the base athlete's ability to firmly grip and hold onto the flyer.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a slip resistant garment, in particular pants and shorts for use in the practice of cheerleading sports. The garment has a first plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a left hip portion of the garment and a second plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a right hip portion of the garment. The protrusions may be made of a material which provides a high friction coefficient in contact with human skin, and may in particular be made of silicone.

The protrusions may have a circular, oval or polygonal outline. The protrusions at each hip portion may be arranged in a pattern of parallel rectilinear rows and columns. In particular, each row within the pattern may comprise the same number or fewer protrusions than the row above and some rows may comprise fewer protrusions than the row above.

The pattern of parallel rectilinear rows and columns may have a complex outline, comprising an upper generally rectangular section and a lower generally triangular section, wherein rows of protrusions within the generally triangular section contain successively fewer protrusions per row in a downward direction. A first surface area of protrusions in an upper section of the pattern may be larger than a second surface area of protrusions in a lower section of the pattern.

When used in pants (as opposed to shorts) the garment may include a left leg section having a third plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a left ankle portion and a right leg section having a fourth plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a right ankle portion.

A method for producing a garment may comprise providing a fabric waist piece, forming a first plurality of exterior protrusions onto a left hip portion of the waist piece and forming a second plurality of exterior protrusions onto a right hip portion of the waist piece. The waist piece may then be sewn together with a fabric left leg piece and a fabric right leg piece. The exterior protrusions may be formed by screen-printing silicone onto the fabric or by selectively dispensing silicone through a nozzle.

For the manufacture of pants the method may further comprise forming a third plurality of exterior protrusions onto a left ankle portion of the left leg piece and forming a fourth plurality of exterior protrusions onto a right ankle portion of the right leg piece. The left leg piece and the right leg piece may be integral with exterior protrusions formed on a lower portion thereof. Alternatively, a separate left ankle piece may be provided, the third plurality of exterior protrusions may be formed onto the left ankle piece, and the left ankle piece may then be sewn onto the left leg piece. Similarly, a right ankle piece may be provided, the fourth plurality of exterior protrusions may be formed onto the right ankle piece, and the right ankle piece may be sewn to the right leg piece.

The disclosed garment for use as pants or shorts may be made of a first material. A second material having a friction coefficient against human skin which is at least 20% greater than the friction coefficient of the first material may be arranged at an outer left and right hip portion of the garment. The first material may be a polyester spandex blend fabric and the second material may be silicone.

The following detailed description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of the invention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theory presented in the preceding background of the invention or the following detailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 front view of a pair of cheerleading training pants with slip resistant protrusions.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of fabric pieces used to form the pants as in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of several slip resistant protrusions formed onto a fabric.

FIG. 4 is shows a pair of cheerleading training shorts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1 a garment 1 in form of a pair of pants for use in cheerleading practice is shown in front view. The garment 1 may also be referred to as leggings. The garment 1 comprises a waist portion 2 and a pair of leg portions 3, 4 extending downwardly from the waist portion. The waist portion 2 extends vertically from a generally straight upper edge 51 to an arcuately shaped lower edge 52. The waist portion has a minimal height at its front and rear and a maximal height at its left and right sides.

Arranged within a left hip portion 22 of the waist portion 2 is a first plurality of slip resistant protrusions 21. Arranged on an opposite right hip portion 24 is a second plurality of slip resistant protrusions 23. The slip resistant protrusions 21, 23 may be made of silicone which has been formed onto the waist portion 2. The slip resistant protrusions 21,23 are arranged in an area of the garment covering the hips up to the waist where a cheerleading athlete is typically caught during the performance of stunts.

Arranged at a left ankle portion 42 of the left leg portion 4 is a third plurality of slip resistant protrusions 41. Arranged on an opposite right ankle portion 31 of the right leg portion 3 is a fourth plurality of slip resistant protrusions 31. The slip resistant protrusions 31, 41 are arranged at a portion of the garment covering the ankles of a cheerleading athlete where the athlete is frequently held during performance of stunts such as e.g. the formation of a human pyramid.

The slip resistant protrusions 21,23,31,41 are formed on an outside surface of the garment 1 to enable a fellow athlete to get a firm grip onto the athlete wearing the garment 1. In particular, the slip resistant protrusions 21,23,31,41 are provided to prevent a base athlete to loose grip of a flyer athlete during the performance of stunts in which the flyer athlete is thrown into and caught out of the air.

The slip resistant protrusions may be made of silicone. The use of silicone is particularly beneficial due to its high friction coefficient in combination with human skin. Tests show that the friction coefficient of silicone against skin is in the range of 0.61±0.21. This is significantly higher than the friction coefficient of materials commonly used in the manufacture of garment, such as nylon or cotton. The friction coefficient of nylon against skin has been measured at 0.37±0.09. The friction coefficient of cotton against skin has been measured at 0.51±0.11. It is beneficial, if the friction coefficient of the slip resistant protrusions is at least 0.1, preferably 0.2 greater than the friction coefficient of the garment against skin. That is, the friction coefficient relative to human skin of the material used to form the slip resistant protrusions is preferably at least 20% greater, even more preferably at least 35% greater and ideally at least 50% greater than the friction coefficient of the surrounding garment. The garment is preferably made of polyester spandex blend fabric, e.g. a blend of 80%-90% polyester and 10%-20% spandex, most preferably a blend containing 85% polyester and 15% spandex.

The slip resistant protrusions may be shaped as elevated dots, nubs, or the like. They may have a generally dome-shaped or cylindrical body having a height between 0.1 to 1 mm. The slip resistant protrusions may have a circular, oval, or polygonal outline. Circular slip resistant protrusions may have a diameter between 1 and 10 mm and more preferably between 3 and 5 mm. Exemplary protrusion that have been found to be effective are shown in FIG. 3.

Preferably, the slip resistant protrusions may be arranged in a pattern of rectilinear rows and columns. For example, the slip resistant protrusions may be formed in a pattern with 10-15 rows and 1-25 columns. Shown in FIG. 1 is a pattern having 13 rows and, between 2 and 20 columns. As shown, each row of protrusion at the hip sections has the same number or fewer protrusions than the row above. Some rows have fewer protrusions than the row above.

The pattern of parallel rectilinear rows and columns at the hip sections has a complex outline, comprising an upper generally rectangular section and a lower generally triangular section. Rows of protrusions within the generally triangular section contain successively fewer nubs per row in a downward direction. The same general pattern of protrusions is used at the ankle portions of the garment. However, at the ankle portions the pattern is inverted with a generally triangular section being arranged above a generally rectangular section. Consequently, at the ankle portions the generally triangular section of the pattern contains successively fewer nubs per row in an upward direction.

The protrusions within a pattern need not be of the same size and may thus have different surface areas. In particular, the surface area of protrusions in an upper section of the pattern may be larger than the surface area of protrusions in a lower section of the pattern or vice versa. For example, upper protrusions at the hip portion of the garment may have a diameter of 5 mm and consequently a surface area of 79 mm². Lower protrusions at the hip portion of the garment may have a diameter of 3 mm and consequently a surface area of 28 mm². Preferably, protrusions are spaced so as to leave a gap with a minimum width between 5 and 10 mm between each other.

A total number of about 200 protrusions, in particular between 100 and 300 and more preferably between 150 and 250 protrusions in each of the covered portions of the garment has been found effective.

Instead of a regular pattern, the slip resistant protrusions may be arranged in a pseudo-random pattern.

The slip resistant protrusions 21,23,31,41 are arranged on an exterior surface of the garment 1 and are therefore referred to as exterior protrusions. In an advantageous embodiment additional slip resistant protrusions may be formed on an opposite interior surface of the garment 1. The interior protrusions (not shown) may be aligned with the exterior protrusions, or may be formed as thin elongated rows of silicone.

The garment 1 may be a pair of pants as shown in FIG. 1 or a pair of shorts as shown in FIG. 4. The short 11 have the same slip resistant protrusions at their left and right hip portions, but obviously do not include ankle portions.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a method for producing a garment 1 with slip resistant protrusions includes sewing together fabric pieces, in particular a waist piece 20, a left leg piece 30, a right leg piece 40, a crotch piece 50, a left ankle piece 33, and a right ankle piece 43. The waist piece 20 is folded along its horizontal symmetry axis 27 such that an outer surface 11 and an inner surface 29 overlap each other.

Before the pieces are sewn together slip resistant protrusions 21, 23, 31, 41 are formed onto a left hip portion 22 and a right hip portion 23 of the waist piece 20. The slip resistant protrusion may e.g. be screen-printed onto the waist piece 20.

Similarly, slip resistant protrusions may be screen-printed onto the ankle pieces 33, 43 before those are sewn to the left leg piece 40 and right leg piece 30. The left and right ankle portions may be integral to the left and right leg pieces or may be formed as separate ankle pieces which are sewn to the lower ends of the respective leg pieces.

Instead of screen-printing, the protrusions may be formed by selectively dispensing silicone to the fabric pieces through a nozzle.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the disclosed or illustrated embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover numerous other modifications, substitutions, variations and broad equivalent arrangements that are included within the spirit and scope of the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A garment for use as pants or shorts, comprising a first plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a left hip portion of the garment and a second plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a right hip portion of the garment.
 2. The garment as in claim 1, wherein the protrusions are made of silicone.
 3. The garment as in claim 1, wherein each protrusion of the first and second plurality of protrusions has a circular, oval or polygonal outline.
 4. The garment as in claim 3, wherein the protrusions at each hip portion are arranged in a pattern of parallel rectilinear rows and columns.
 5. The garment as in claim 4, wherein each row comprises the same number or fewer protrusions than the row above and wherein some rows comprise fewer protrusions than the row above.
 6. The garment as in claim 4, wherein the pattern of parallel rectilinear rows and columns has a complex outline, comprising an upper generally rectangular section and a lower generally triangular section, wherein rows of protrusions within the generally triangular section contain successively fewer protrusions per row in a downward direction.
 7. The garment as in claim 4, wherein a first surface area of protrusions in an upper section of the pattern is larger than a second surface area of protrusions in a lower section of the pattern.
 8. The garment as in claim 1, further comprising: a left leg section having a third plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a left ankle portion thereof; and a right leg section having a fourth plurality of exterior protrusions arranged at a right ankle portion thereof.
 9. A method for producing a garment, comprising: providing a fabric waist piece; forming a first plurality of exterior protrusions onto a left hip portion of the waist piece; forming a second plurality of exterior protrusions onto a right hip portion of the waist piece; providing a fabric left leg piece; providing a fabric right leg piece; and sewing together the waist piece, the left leg piece, and the right leg piece.
 10. The method as in claim 9, wherein forming of exterior protrusions comprises screen-printing of silicone.
 11. The method as in claim 9, wherein forming of exterior protrusions comprises selectively dispensing silicone through a nozzle.
 12. The method as in claim 9, further comprising forming a third plurality of exterior protrusions onto a left ankle portion of the left leg piece; and forming a fourth plurality of exterior protrusions onto a right ankle portion of the right leg piece.
 13. The method as in claim 9, further comprising providing a left ankle piece; forming a third plurality of exterior protrusions onto the left ankle piece; sewing the left ankle piece to the left leg piece; providing a right ankle piece; forming a fourth plurality of exterior protrusions onto the right ankle piece; and sewing the right ankle piece to the right leg piece.
 14. The garment produced with the method as in claim
 9. 15. A garment for use as pants or shorts made of a first material, comprising a second material arranged at an outer left and right hip portion of the garment, wherein a friction coefficient of the second material against human skin is at least 20% greater than a friction coefficient of the first material against human skin.
 16. The garment as in claim 15, wherein the first material is a polyester spandex blend fabric and the second material is silicone. 